Theophrast über Pflanzenkrankheiten. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Phytopathologie in der Antike

摘要

AbstractAlready before Theophrastus there was a botanical literature which also dealt with the diseases of plants, but we have only indirectly access to it — mainly by way of Theophrastus. The botanical excursus of the Hippocratic series of writingsDe genitura, De natura pueri, De morbis IV, which attributes the health of plants to a balance of warmth and cold and a correct quantity of specific humidity, forms an exception. This excursus hints at what is more fully developed in Theophrastus discussion of the diseases of plants: The diseases of plants are understood in close analogy to those of animals or human beings. In both cases, a basic distinction is made between inner, dietetic diseases and outer, traumatic ones. According to Theophrastus, especially humidity and an innate warmth are life‐sustaining factors. A disturbance of the natural humidity/warmth‐household must be counteracted by respective measures. As far as the terminology of plant diseases is concerned, Theophrastus relies on already existing concepts. Classical literature after Theophrastus has made no substantial contributions to phytopath